I'm very new to selling my artwork and want to one day make it my career, and with this Square reader, it makes my goal that much more realistic and easy to achieve. I've been going to some local art events to sell some work in person and this thing is a GAME CHANGER.

Trust me, if you're a small artist, it is 100% worth it to invest in a card reader, and Square has been very reliable and extremely easy to use. I'm usually a nervous, anxious wreck when it comes to trying new technology like this, but setting it all up was an absolute breeze. I definitely made FAR more sales by having a card reader on hand. Having the option for cash, Venmo, PayPal etc. never hurts either, but almost all of my sales were through the Square card reader and it was so worth it.

I love that you can set up an inventory list on there to keep track of your sales, and you can also keep track of any cash sales as well. The app is very well organized, the battery life is great, and I had no connection issues at all. Every transaction went smoothly and quickly, and it even has the option of giving the customer a digital receipt! It just made me feel so professional right off the bat when I'm still such a rookie lol. I definitely plan to have this at every event I go to! :)

We use these when selling at events with the Square charging dock and they have worked flawlessly for us. We use them with our Samsung Galaxy S5 phones and the bluetooth connection has always been rock solid. Square got this reader right (the previous generation chip/swipe combo reader that plugged into the headphone jack was much less reliable and the batteries didn't hold a charge long enough). We couldn't be more pleased with this chip reader setup.

Update on 04/20/23: It has been over 5 years since purchasing these readers and we are still using them while selling at events. However, the "rock-solid" bluetooth connection that I talked about originally has gotten quite a bit shakier. I am currently using a Galaxy S10 (yes, it's an outdated phone but is still reliable) and the latest version of the Square app software. While selling at a recent event there would be random error messages saying "Reader Unavailable: Secure Session Denial". The reader would be offline when these messages appeared, but by starting to enter another transaction on the phone keypad the bluetooth would then reconnect and the message would go away. It appears that the bluetooth is randomly dropping out for some reason. This never happened until I updated to the latest version of the Square app (version 6.14). Unfortunately this is fairly typical for Square to update their software which results in problems that were not there before. In this example the problem is not a show-stopper but rather an annoyance, but we did have a similar problem at an event years ago (before COVID) where this message appeared and caused our bluetooth chip readers to stop working entirely. We had to switch to the earphone jack swipers for the remainder of that show which was a royal pain, and now would be impossible for many people due to earphone jacks being eliminated from Androids. Bottom line is to use caution when upgrading your Square app if everything is working well, because there is the real possibility of introducing new problems that were not there before.

Update on 07/22/24: We are still using the Square readers (we've purchased the latest versions) and are currently on Samsung Galaxy S22 phones. We recently used them while selling at a 3-day live event and the Square app and readers worked very well. We had a couple of hiccups where we had to reboot our phones, but that could have been a cellular problem as there were over 10k people attending this event and that is a lot of phones in a small area. The "Reader Unavailable" problem has gone away in recent months, so I think a recent software update has cured that issue. The software updates happen automatically now, so you really don't have a choice in the matter. Hopefully Square continues to improve the product, but as things stand right now I'm very pleased and will continue to use their app and bluetooth readers for my business.

Small.. convenient.. portable.. easy to use.. easy connectivity.. good battery life.. very versatile..

Pros:

Increases sales

Easy to set up (5 min or so)

Easy to operate

Easy to carry

Records transactions w/ GPS location

Sends Email Receipts to customer (if they choose so)

Debit/Credit Apple Pay/ Android Pay

Cons:

Easy to lose/steal

2.75% charge per transaction

Confusing Fee from above

Confusing 1st time "mail Sample"

Unknown/ Not Tested yet:

Customer Service

Printing Capabilities

Durability

Review:

So when i ordered, it was advertised with the Square thingy + card swipe adapter. It did come with both, in box that looks more like the apple company made it. The products itself looks from apple. Quality seems good, sturdy, I just like the feel I don't have to worry of grabbing it too hard and break it.

Set up is pretty much straightforward. You download the app (Squre Register-POS), you'll need your Business Account // Personal Account along with routing number. Zip Code, name, address, social security and what not. Pretty much what a bank would ask you. Once your account is linked, it will ask you if you want them to send you their product or if you already got it. I thought the product was going to be sent for free, but it was charging me another $50, so i wanted to cancel and it didn't give me that option. I still have to check with customer service about that. In the meanwhile i just put "charge me later" or something along the lines.

To use it, open the app (Abbreviated as "Register" in the apps menu), You enter the amount and you can have the chip reader or the swipe card thingy be used for the transaction. The app will automatically detect when it happens. Then customer signs on the smartphone. enters email for receipt (or skips). And done, in 3 days or less you got your deposit ready for withdrawal. Customers already familiar with it, make transactions faster than cash, and I've notice sales have gone up, despite the 2.75% current charge (as of 11/01/16).

Here is the catch though, whatever you enter in the phone, that's what the customer pays at the end of the day. Which means that if you sell

a product for $1.00, the customer pays $1.00 but you will only receive $0.97 cents. So if your profit margin has to be $1.00 then you must sell the product at 1*(100+2.75)/100 = $1.03

In general:

Sales = Price*(100- r) /100

where:

Sales = your desired cash revenue.

Price = the advertised amount in a cash transaction

r = interest rate from Square , currently at 2.75%

Generally customers don't mind the extra charge because of the convenience of not wasting time in going to an ATM. And if they use credit card, at least 1% returns to them, so it will be more of 1.75% charge. Pretty small for products under $25.

So about this issue you got 3 options:

1) have a calculator at hand for every transaction you make, slow down lines, and increase skepticism in customer trust.

2) Leave prices as they are, and take the hit for using this product (Recommended by me, some is better than nothing)

3) Raise prices altogether to keep profits marginal ( customer satisfaction goes down, and maybe sales as a consequence).

I think overall this this product is great. Customers like it when they found out we started taking cards.

Sales transactions went up by almost 30%.

Now most of the income is about 50% from online transactions.

Apple Pay/ Android pay is big plus, even though they only constitute 1% of total online transactions.

I bought this as an upgrade to the square magstripe reader I had been using for a while. I was already familiar with the square app and functions, I just needed to integrate the new chip reader into my routine. I also purchased the charging dock based on reviews I read stating that the device turns off very often as a battery saving feature. The dock also seemed like it would improve overall ease of use.

This chip reader links to either of my square app devices​ (one is iOS, one is Android) via Bluetooth with no problem. When I have the reader in its dock & plugged in I never have trouble with it sleeping at inopportune times as other reviewers mentioned. It has increased my customer satisfaction with sales process since I now can read chip cards and offer Droid/Apple pay. It is also easier for me to use than the little magstripe reader.

If I am at a venue where I have no power access, I still use the dock/charging station because it positions the reader for easy use. I do not put the locking piece on the top of the dock, because I do have to take the reader out & wake it up if it goes too long between uses. The on/off button on the reader is on the bottom; it is covered and unreachable when it is in the dock. That is a bit inconvenient, but if it prolong the battery life I am ok with it. Leaving the locking end off makes the reader easy to remove when necessary.

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase. I think the combination of these 2 devices has increased sales for my business.

I vend at events 3-4 weekends per month. Had been using the PayPal Here card readers and hated them. They timed out between every customer checkout. It took 90+ seconds to wake up and reconnect them with my Android phone. Time enough for some customers to walk away when I had 3-4 people in line ready to checkout. The Square credit card process has been very fast. Even taking out the wake up time, it processes credit cards in half the time required by the PayPal Here reader and software.

Battery life has been good. Have used the Square reader for a couple months now. After 30-40 transactions per day it's still at 4/4 charger indication. A couple times I failed to charge it and it lasted all 3 days ending with a 2/4 charge.

Overall the speed and easy of use of this reader made it an easy decision to switch from PayPal to Square for my vending credit card processing.

Update: Reader is still performing will. Only issue I've had is the lack of magnetic reader. It's a pain to switch the old audio jack plug in reader and this wireless reader. You can get a reader that does both but Square charges $300 for them. OUCH!

This card scanner is way better than the old magnetic strip reader. I was hesitant to use it the first time due to my bad eyes and time it takes to do a transaction. With this it was super fast and easy. I listen to streaming music on some bluetooth speakers and was concerned about how long it will take this device to connect each time. I don't know how it works but my music never stopped and still was able to take payments instantly. Great product that works well. I feel like it is way overpriced for a gadget that enables one to use a service that also makes the company money. Kinda like these electronics shows where you have to pay admission to walk around and shop. This should be FREE or at least reasonably priced like the magnetic strip scanner. I would do it again as it works so well and I like the Square trade platform and app. But $50 doesn't make it an easy decision.

Worked well for our pet shelter fund raising activities

Product arrived quickly and was as described

Works well

ポップアップストアでの利用を目的に購入いたしました。

スタッフは初めて使うものでしたが、使用方法がシンプルなため、すぐに慣れてくれました。

ストア開設期間の10日間の間、全く問題なく、スムーズに使用することができました。

気軽に使いたい方にはオススメです！

I use for business

I bought it always give error when I connect to iPad with mPOP cash drawer